The FA has given notice that the opening round of the The Emirates FA Cup in season 2017-2018 will be held on Saturday 5th August 2017.
The announcement was given to all League Secretaries at Step 5 and 6 of The FA National League System by Chris Darnell, FA Competitions Manager.
He said:
"Whilst we are unable to provide confirmation of all Round dates for next season at this stage, we wanted to give Leagues and clubs as early notice as possible that in order to retain the current format of the Competition, and without reducing numbers; the Competition will start on Saturday 5 August 2017.
"This provides for a necessary two week gap between each of the Preliminary and Qualifying Rounds, and also a three week gap between the Fourth Round Qualifying and First Round Proper, which is vitally important to assist with the planning and preparation for the delivery of matches in the First Round Proper.
"As soon as the full fixture schedule has been confirmed, details will be circulated to all Leagues. This will hopefully be sometime before the end of April.
"In the meantime we hope that providing early notice of this information is helpful towards your planning arrangements for next season".
